Streaming media content can be divided into segments having a fixed duration. Adaptive Bit Rate (ABR) streaming protocols have been also been developed. ABR is a method of streaming media content where sequential HTTP progressive downloads in which a continuous media program is delivered as a series of sequential media segments or chunks. It is these sequential media segments that are known to have a fixed duration.
FIG. 1 illustrates an overview of some ABR use cases. As shown, the content owners 102 provide a wide variety of media content that are accessed by consumers 106. This media content includes television, cable and other audio/visual programming that is provided through traditional channels such as broadcast and cable television as well as alternative methods such as via the internet. The content owners and providers supply the media content to operators 104 such as broadcast and cable television operators as well as other types of data providers through the internet 108 and various wireless technologies. These operators provide the streaming of the media content to the end consumers.
In known ABR techniques 110, the segments that are formed from the streaming media content are of a fixed duration. This fixed duration, however, may not be ideal for streaming all of the media content because of various changes within the media content. Thus, at discontinuities in the streaming media content, encoding efficiency is compromised. And at boundaries such as between programs or desired ad insertion locations, the fixed duration segments do not align properly with the actual content, resulting in “gaps” or “overlap” of media content when switching content.
Alternatives to previously used ABR techniques have proposed to alter the fixed duration of the segments by dividing the media streaming into segments having different fixed durations by allowing this parameter to be provisioned or configured when the service is created. Nonetheless, each of the segments still has the same duration even though the duration of the segments is different than the duration of previously used segments. This does not overcome the deficiencies of other ABR methods using fixed duration segments.
In view of the foregoing, alternative methods of ABR are needed to better accommodate performance and distribution needs of the media content and distributors.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention.